


A part of the ocean

by dragonesdepapel



Category: Cardcaptor Sakura
Genre: Alternate Universe, Baking, F/M, Fluff, Gift Exchange, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-11
Updated: 2020-01-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:02:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22091512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonesdepapel/pseuds/dragonesdepapel
Summary: My entry for the ccs gift exchange. The request was a lighthearted fanfic of a mermaid au.
Relationships: Kinomoto Sakura/Li Syaoran
Kudos: 12





	A part of the ocean

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Angelfishi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angelfishi/gifts).
  * Inspired by [You have "no freedom" in this place (but I really like you)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13869930) by [Angelfishi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angelfishi/pseuds/Angelfishi). 



> Happy new year! I loved your mermaid au and I hope you like your gift!

“Are you sure no one can see us here?”

“I told you not to worry about it,”  Syaoran said, irritated. It was the sixth time the princess had asked that question. “These rocks are  high, the kids won’t see you unless they climb them. You can’t get out of here though; they would definitely notice you if you did.”

The princess sighed, sinking deeper into the water, until even her nose was under it.  Syaoran imagined her long tail impatiently swashing back and forth.

After a pause, she resurfaced. “Are they still there? We’ve been here for hours.” This time she was scrunching up her nose in a way that  Syaoran found more annoying than cute. 

“No, they are still there. And it’s only been...” he checked his watch, “an hour.”

Which, huh, it actually had been quite a while. He had gotten lost in watching the light bounce off the sea and play i n her eyes, making them look almost like they were full of sparkles.

“Maybe I should go search for another place to-”

“No! We’ve already discussed this. It's too dangerous for you to cross anywhere else.”

There was that scrunch again. “But I’m bored.”

“Then deal with it.”

The princess stuck her tongue out at him. He wondered which kind of manners royalty taught underwater for her to be like this.

He tried to distract himself by looking at the sky but his eyes quickly wandered back towards her. She was floating in place, moving along with the waves. Despite her impatience, it was clear she was making an effort to stay as close to the water as possible. In the weeks they’d shared  togethe,r there had been many close calls. Way too many close calls.

It wasn’t  Syaoran’s fault. Sometimes it wasn’t even Sakura’s fault. It was that damn contract, making everything more complicated than it should be. There were so many things to be aware and careful of. So many things Sakura couldn’t even try...

He leaped to his feet as an idea occurred to him. “Wait here,” he said, already turning away.

It didn’t occur to him that Sakura might disobey his order until he was already making his way back to the shore. He rushed to her hideout behind the rocks, half expecting to find her gone.

But his fears were unfounded. Everything was the same as he had left it. Kids playing a few meters away, an impatient Sakura still in hiding. He let out a sigh of relief at the sight of her.

“Here,” he said, thrusting his hand out towards her.

Instead of taking it, she stared at the thing in his hand. “What is it?”

“It’s ice cream. Remember you wanted to try it?”

Sakura was still looking at it with suspicion. “It’s pink. Ice cream isn’t pink.”

Syaoran resisted the urge to roll his eyes. She jumped at every opportunity to try new things without even stopping to think if it was advisable, but this she distrusted? Was it because he was the one who was offering it to her?

“Ice cream can be many colors. This one is strawberry. You like strawberries, remember?”

She lit up at the mention of her favorite fruit. She snatched the cone from Syaoran’s hand, almost knocking him off his perch on the rocks.

“Hey, careful!” he yelped.

But she was too distracted by the novelty of the ice-cream to pay attention to him.

“It’s cold!” she exclaimed, surprised.

Syaoran tried, he really tried to keep the chuckle in, but it got away from his despite his best efforts. Sakura looked at him questioningly.

“You aren’t supposed to bite it. You are supposed to lick it.”

The princess frowned. “That can’t be right.”

Syaoran licked his ice cream slowly and deliberately, maintaining eye contact with Sakura. She took a quick lick of hers, then a slower one. She seemed to like it, and she continued to eat it normally after that. Sakura eyed him curiously before asking,

“What is yours?”

“Chocolate, do you want to try it?” He leaned forward, offering his cone.

Sakura wasted no time in doing so. “It’s good! But I like the strawberry one better.”

They both continued to eat their ice creams in silence after that.  Syaoran was amazed at the fact that she could keep hers dry while still swashing along with the current. There were a lot of things that surprised him about her. Despite her naivety about most things regarding the human world, she was smart and knew how to think on her feet. Or, well, tail he supposed.

After he finished his cone, he turned around and found that the kids were finally gone.

“Ok, it’s safe to come out now. Let’s go home.”

* * *

Once Sakura was dry and properly dressed, they walked back to  Syaoran’s apartment. Sakura was silent for most of the walk as well, which was weird. She liked to take advantage of every opportunity to grill him with questions about the human world. Before today, those questions never seemed to dry up, even when Syaoran thought that he had already every question available on Earth.

She didn’t look upset though. Just...pensive.

Finally, when they reached his door she said, “I want to try every food.”

He moved aside so she could walk in first. “Every food?”

“Every food,” she nodded, a determined expression firmly in place.

“That’s ridiculous.”

Sakura pouted. “C’mon Syaoran! There’s so much stuff I still have to try! Food is one of those things!”

Syaoran sighed, knowing that the princess wouldn’t let this go. He had been around her long enough to recognize a lost cause.  His first instinct was to immediately argue, but a smarter part of his brain stopped him. He had learned by now that once the princess had set her mind on something, simple common sense wouldn't do to dissuade her from it.

He stayed silent, trying to come up with a better alternative.

"I'll try to cook as many different things as I can," he offered. "We are still months away from your one-year deadline. That should be enough." It would be hard to come up with a new dish for every single meal but he was confident that he could get away with it long enough for the princess to forget about her goal.

She thought it over. "But what about sweets?"

"Sweets?"

"Yes, sweets. I want to try sweets as well."

Syaoran frowned. "You can't have sweets every day."

"But I have to, if I want to try them all before going back," she insisted.

"You want to do so many things before you go back. We can't do all that and also spend so much time cooking," he reasoned.

Sakura bit her lip. "You are right."

Silence followed her words. After a few seconds he realized that her eyes had grown brighter, and that tears were threatening to fall from them. Alarm seized him.

"Why don't we start by teaching you to bake a strawberry cake?" He rushed to say. "We'll see what we can do about it tomorrow."

That got her to smile again. "We can do that?"

He sighed in relief. "We can."

"Right now?" she asked, looking hopeful.

He looked at the clock. They had gotten held out at the beach for longer than he thought they would. "Right now." It couldn't hurt to stay up a little longer.

Sakura ran forward, catching him by the hand and pulling him into the kitchen. 

She watched as he took out everything he needed for the cake. Then, she stepped forward, eager to join in. He handed her a measuring cup and guided her into getting everything ready.

Syaoran looked around in his cupboards for his mixer. He whipped the butter and sugar, then added in the eggs. He instructed Sakura to get closer. 

"Now, start adding the flour as I whip." He turned the mixer back on. "Do it-" He started, but it was too late. Sakura had dumped half the cup inside and the flour had flown up, covering half the kitchen, including them. "slowly."

"I'm sorry!!!"

He chuckled at her distressed look. "It's ok. We can clean up later. Now pour in the rest but just a bit at a time."

He noticed, not for the first time, that Sakura bit her tongue when deep in concentration. Watching her be so earnest in something as simple as baking a cake made something warm stir in his chest.

They were careful to keep Sakura away from all the wet ingredients but besides the flying flour, everything went along smoothly.

Soon, the cake was in the oven and all they had to do was sit and wait for it to be done. Sakura tried to mask her exhaustion but  Syaoran caught her yawning and sent her off to bed.

“I’ll finish this off here and we’ll taste it tomorrow,” he assured her.

The princess smiled. “You are always so kind,  Syaoran . Goodnight,” she said through another yawn.

Once alone,  Syaoran thought about the day they’d had as he cleaned up the kitchen. If there was  something he had learned from hanging around Sakura was that he never knew what he should expect. Besides the stress of maybe being spotted by the seaside, the day had been a quiet one. Not as quiet as the routine he used to maintain, but as quiet as a day with Sakura could be.

He had also learned that he didn’t quite miss the quiet, not really. 


End file.
